iOS is a mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. and was first released as iPhone OS in June 2007, coinciding with the launch of the first generation iPhone.[1] iPhone OS was renamed iOS following the release of the iPad, starting with iOS 4.[2] With iOS 13, Apple began offering a separate operating system, iPadOS, for the iPad. iOS is also the foundation of the newer audioOS and tvOS, and shares some of its code with macOS. New iOS versions are released yearly, alongside new iPhone models. From the launch of the iPhone in 2007 until the launch of iPhone 4 in 2010, this occurred in June or July; since then, new major versions are usually released in September, with the exception of iOS 5, which released in October 2011. Since the launch of the iPhone in June 2007, there have been 18 major releases of iOS, with the current major version being iOS 18, released on September 16, 2024.
| Initial release date | Latest version | Latest release date | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone OS 1 | 1.1.5 | ||||||
| iPhone OS 2 | 2.2.1 | ||||||
| iPhone OS 3 | 3.2.2 | ||||||
| iOS 4 | 4.3.5 | ||||||
| iOS 5 | 5.1.1 | ||||||
| iOS 6 | 6.1.6 | ||||||
| iOS 7 | 7.1.2 | ||||||
| iOS 8 | 8.4.1 | ||||||
| iOS 9 | 9.3.6 | ||||||
| iOS 10 | 10.3.4 | ||||||
| iOS 11 | 11.4.1 | ||||||
| iOS 12 | 12.5.7 | ||||||
| iOS 13 | 13.7 | ||||||
| iOS 14 | 14.8.1 | ||||||
| iOS 15 | 15.8.3 | ||||||
| iOS 16 | 16.7.10 | ||||||
| iOS 17 | 17.7.2 | ||||||
| iOS 18 | 18.1.1 | ||||||
| 18.2 Beta 4 | November 20, 2024 | ||||||
| Legend: | |||||||
See main article: iPhone OS 1.
iPhone OS 1 was announced by Apple at the iPhone announcement keynote on January 9, 2007. It was later released alongside the original iPhone that same year on June 29.[3] No official name for the operating system was given when the iPhone was released, and Steve Jobs was quoted as saying that "iPhone runs OS X", however it was later referred to as iPhone Software.[4] [5] During the development phase of iPhone OS 1, there were around 16 or 17 concepts that were developed. Many on the team were skeptical of the feasibility of a touchscreen keyboard, and believed that users would prefer hardware keyboards. A number of different user interfaces were prototyped, including one that involved a multi-touch click-wheel.[6]
iPhone OS 1 laid the groundwork of the iPhone's operating system, including a grid-based Home Screen called SpringBoard, and a set of 16 built-in apps, including Text, for sending Short Message Service (SMS) messages, a YouTube app for watching videos hosted on the platform, and Maps, an app built around Google Maps with support for route directions, traffic conditions in supported regions, and support for finding and contacting businesses. It also featured a version of Safari, the web browser from Mac OS X, built around the mobile touchscreen interface of the iPhone. Other apps included iPod, for playback of music synced from a Mac or PC to an iPhone; Mail, for composing, viewing, and receiving emails; Phone, for taking or making calls, viewing or adding contacts, and listening to voicemails; and Settings, for customizing the behavior of the iPhone as well as its built-in apps, among others. Support for multi-touch gestures, such as pinch-to-zoom, double tap, and scrolling via flicking and dragging was also included.[7] However, the operating system was criticized for not supporting content made with Adobe Flash, lacking support for cut, copy and paste features, as well as its lack of support for Bluetooth stereo headphones.[8] It also lacked support for third-party native apps, having support only for web apps,[9] which was criticized by reviewers and developers,[10] [11] including John Carmack.[12]
iPhone OS 1.1 was released alongside the first-generation iPod Touch on September 5, 2007 as an update exclusive to the device, and added the iTunes Music Store which allowed users to purchase and download music directly onto their iPod Touch.[13] iPhone OS 1.1.1, released on September 27, 2007,[14] brought the iTunes Music Store to the iPhone alongside other changes, including louder audio receiver and loudspeaker volume, support for viewing Mail attachments in both portrait and landscape orientations, the ability to adjust the volume of alerts, additional intervals for passcode locking, and an option in Settings that allows turning on or off double tapping the space bar on the built-in software keyboard to automatically insert a period and space. More minor changes included the addition of being able to change the order of stocks and cities in the Stocks and Weather apps and the ability to disable EDGE/GPRS when internationally roaming.[15] iPhone OS 1.1.2, released on November 9, 2007,[16] included a fix for a security vulnerability discovered in July 2007 involving the TIFF image format.[17] The update also included bug fixes and support for additional languages.
iPhone OS 1.1.3 was released on January 15, 2008[18] as a free update for iPhone owners, while it cost for iPod Touch owners. The update added several new features, particuarly in Maps, such as a hybrid map view combining the satellite view and street and place labels, the ability to triangulate the user's current location via the use of Wi-Fi and cellular towers as well as the ability to drop pins to specific locations.[19] As part of the update, the Home Screen received several enhancements, including support for rearranging icons, adding shortcuts to websites from Safari, and up to eight individual Home Screen pages. Other changes included in the update include increasing the amount of SMS messages that can be stored to 75,000 messages from 1,000 messages, and adding support in Text for sending a message to multiple recipients.[20] Apps were also changed to run from the user mobile instead of the root superuser as part of the update.[21] iPhone OS 1.1.4 was the final iPhone OS 1 update for the first-generation iPhone prior to the release of iPhone OS 2, and was released on February 26, 2008, while iPhone OS 1.1.5 was the final iPhone OS 1 update for the first-generation iPod Touch and was released on July 15, 2008 after the release of iPhone OS 2, to users unwilling or unable to update to iPhone OS 2.[22]
See main article: iPhone OS 2.
iPhone OS 2 was announced by Apple at a keynote held on March 6, 2008, as the first major update to the operating system,[23] [24] and was released alongside the iPhone 3G on July 11, 2008.[25] iPhone OS 2 retained compatibility with all iPhone and iPod Touch models that were compatible with iPhone OS 1, and was a paid update for iPod Touch owners, costing, while it was a free update for iPhone owners.
iPhone OS 2 introduced the App Store, a digital storefront allowing users to purchase or download apps directly onto an iPhone or iPod Touch. A software development kit, the iPhone SDK, was released alongside the update and included a set of tools and application programming interfaces (APIs) allowing third-party developers to create native appications.[26] [27] It added a significant number of features related to enterprise environments, including support for Microsoft Exchange through ActiveSync for push emails, contacts, and calendars, support for VPNs that use the IPsec protocol, and the ability to remotely wipe a lost or stolen device. Several new features were added to Mail, including support for viewing Microsoft Office and iWork attachments, the ability to delete or move multiple emails at once, full support for blind carbon copy (BCC), and the ability to select an outgoing email when composing messages. Other new features included a scientific calculator mode in Calculator while in landscape orientation, a search function for Contacts, and Restrictions, a parental controls system that allows users to, via a 4-digit passcode, lock down certain functionality of iPhone OS, i.e. disabling access to Safari or disabling playback of explicit music. Several technical and security improvements were also added, including support for the Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2) security protocol for Wi-Fi networks, support for IEEE 802.1X, and the ability to re-enable Wi-Fi while remaining in Airplane Mode.
iPhone OS 2.1 was released on September 12, 2008[28] and added the ability to create Genius playlists, the ability to turn on the forced deletion of all data stored on an iPhone or iPod Touch after ten incorrect passcode attempts, and the ability to disable access to the Camera app from within Restrictions. The update also included numerous bug fixes and technical improvements, including fixes for issues that could cause calls to drop or fail to initialize,[29] improved speed when installing third-party app from the App Store, improved battery life, reliability improvements when fetching email from IMAP or POP accounts, and hang and crash fixes for when users have a large number of installed third-party apps.[30] iPhone OS 2.1.1 was released alongside the second-generation iPod Touch as an exclusive update unavailable to other iPhone OS 2 devices.[31]
iPhone OS 2.2 was released on November 20, 2008[32] and added new features to Maps, including integration with Google Street View, support for directions when taking public transit or walking, and the ability to share a location by email. Dropped pins were also changed to display the dropped pin's address when tapped. Several changes were also made to Mail, including fixes for isolated issues with regard to scheduled fetching of emails, and improvements to wide HTML email format handling. Other changes made in the update include improved performance and stability within Safari, the ability to download podcasts from the iTunes Store over either Wi-Fi or cellular data, improved sound quality of visual voicemail messages, and the ability to go back to the first Home Screen from any other Home Screen by pressing the Home button. An option in Settings was also added that allows users to turn off the software keyboard's autocorrection feature.[33] iPhone OS 2.2.1 was released on January 27, 2009[34] and contained several fixes, including a fix for an issue where SMS messages would fail to send.[35] It was the final version of iPhone OS 2 to be released prior to the release of iPhone OS 3.
See main article: iPhone OS 3.
Apple announced iPhone OS 3 on March 17, 2009,[36] and it was released to the public on June 17, 2009, alongside the iPhone 3GS. Apple did not drop support for any devices with this release. iPhone OS 3 was compatible with all devices released up to that time, but not all features were available on the original iPhone.[37] The final release supported on the original iPhone and iPod Touch (1st generation) is iPhone OS 3.1.3.[38] The first iPad was introduced along with iPhone OS 3.2.[39] [40]
iPhone OS 3 was the first version to support cut, copy and paste.[41] The feature had previously only been available through jailbreaking.[42]
See main article: iOS 4.
Apple announced iOS 4 in April 2010,[43] and released it to the public on June 21, 2010, alongside the iPhone 4.[44] It was the first version of the operating system to be called "iOS", due to the iPad being released. With this release, Apple dropped support for the original iPhone and the first generation iPod Touch, which is the first time Apple had dropped support for any device in an iOS release. The iPhone 3G and the second generation iPod Touch were capable of running iOS 4, but couldn't make use of some of the new features like multitasking,[45] and the ability to set a custom home screen wallpaper.[46] This was also the first major release to be free of charge for iPod Touch users. The release of iOS 4.2.1 brought compatibility to the original iPad.[47] The release of iOS 4.3 added support for the iPad 2.[48]
See main article: iOS 5.
Apple announced iOS 5 on June 6, 2011, at its annual WWDC event,[49] and it was released to the public on October 12, 2011, alongside the iPhone 4S. With this release, Apple did not drop support for these devices,[50] though support for the iPhone 3G and the iPod Touch (2nd generation) had already been dropped with iOS 4.3 seven months earlier due to hardware limitations and performance issues. The release of iOS 5.1 brought support for the iPad (3rd generation).[51] iOS 5.1.1 was the final release supported for the iPad (1st generation) and iPod Touch (3rd generation).[52] [53] iOS 5 was the last major version of iOS to be announced prior to the death of Steve Jobs on October 5, 2011.[54]
See main article: iOS 6.
Apple announced iOS 6 on June 11, 2012, at its annual WWDC event, and it was released to the public on September 19, 2012,[55] alongside the iPhone 5, iPod Touch (5th generation), and iPad (4th generation). With this release, Apple dropped support for the iPod Touch (3rd generation) and the iPad (1st generation) due to performance issues, and offered only limited support on the iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch (4th generation).[56] The iPhone 4 onwards, the iPod Touch (5th generation), the iPad 2 onwards, and the iPad Mini (1st generation) were fully supported.[57] iOS 6.1.6 was the final release supported for the iPhone 3GS and iPod Touch (4th generation).
See main article: iOS 7.
iOS 7 was announced by Apple on June 10, 2013, as part of its annually-held WWDC event,[58] and was released later that year on September 18, alongside the release of the iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s.[59] [60] Due to hardware and performance limitations, support for the iPhone 3GS and fourth-generation iPod Touch was dropped,[61] while the iPad 2 and iPhone 4 had limited support due to not having support for Siri and various other features.[62] It was the first major release of iOS to support 64-bit processors, beginning with the Apple A7 system-on-a-chip (SoC) found in the iPhone 5s.[63] As part of the migration to 64-bit based SoCs, support for apps that target the 64-bit ARM architecture was also added, while support for 32-bit apps was retained until the release of iOS 11 in 2017 which removed the libraries necessary for supporting 32-bit apps.[64]
iOS 7 introduced a significant visual overhaul and redesign of the iOS user interface and its built-in apps, replacing the skeuomorph-inspired design used in earlier iOS versions with flatter design elements,[65] including redesigned icons, a new animation for Slide to Unlock, and a switch from the bold variant of Helvetica Neue to its normal variant.[66] It also introduced the Control Center, a flyout accessible by swiping up from the bottom of the screen that provided access to various controls such as toggling on or off Airplane Mode, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Do Not Disturb Mode, and Rotation Lock. It also included controls for screen brightness, volume, and media playback.[67] [68] The Notification Center additionally received a redesign, categorizing it into three tabs: All, Today, and Missed.[69] Other major features included FaceTime Audio for placing audio-only calls over Wi-Fi,[70] AirDrop for wireless transfer of files and other types of content to and from nearby iOS devices,[71] iTunes Radio, an internet radio service based around automatically generated stations,[72] and enhancements to Siri which allow it to retrieve information from sources such as Wikipedia and Twitter[73] and control a number of device settings, such as Bluetooth.[74]
iOS 7.0.3, released on October 22, 2013, added support for iCloud Keychain and the ability to generate passwords from within Safari,[75] as well as added back to Spotlight the ability to initiate a web or Wikipedia search. The update also added Reduce Motion, a setting allowing users to change the animations used throughout iOS, after reports surfaced that the animations used in iOS 7 were causing motion sickness for some users.[76] Numerous bugs were also fixed, including with iMessage where it could fail to activate or messages could fail to send, and an issue where a device's passcode could be bypassed from the lock screen.[77]
iOS 7.1 was released on March 10, 2014[78] and added CarPlay for integrating iOS with a vehicle’s automotive head unit, allowing users to control certain aspects of their iPhone while driving such as controlling music playback, answering phone calls or listening to voicemails, displaying turn-by-turn directions and traffic conditions from Apple Maps, and responding to or sending messages.[79] Several accessibility-related features and enhancements were added that make iOS easier to use for people with disabilities, including an option for showing shapes for buttons, and bringing Reduce Motion to other areas, including the Weather app and app switcher.[80] Other features added include a month view in Calendar, new male and female voices for Siri in various languages as well as the ability to manually control when it starts or stops listening, and a setting on the iPhone 5s to automatically enable high dynamic range (HDR) when taking photos. The update also improves performance on the iPhone 4, improves reliability when using Touch ID, and fixes a bug that could cause SpringBoard to crash.[81] iOS 7.1.1, released on April 22, 2014, further improved the reliability of Touch ID and fixed bugs with keyboard responsiveness and the use of Bluetooth keyboards while VoiceOver is active.[82] iOS 7.1.2 was released on June 30, 2014 as the final update of iOS 7 and improved the stability and connectivity of iBeacons and fixed data transfer issues with certain accessories and a security issue with Mail attachments.[83]
See main article: iOS 8.
Apple announced iOS 8 on June 2, 2014, at its annual WWDC event, and it was released to the public on September 17, 2014, alongside the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. With this release, Apple dropped support for the iPhone 4 due to performance issues, and the Apple TV (2nd generation) due to hardware limitations. Apple received widespread complaints of extremely poor performance from owners of the iPad 2, iPhone 4S, iPad (3rd generation), iPad Mini (1st generation), and the iPod Touch (5th generation). All other devices from the iPhone 5 onwards, iPod Touch (6th generation) onwards, the iPad (4th generation) onwards, and the iPad Mini 2 onwards were fully supported. The release of iOS 8.1 brought support for the iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3, and the release of iOS 8.4 brought support for the iPod Touch (6th generation). iOS 8.3 was the first version of iOS to have public beta testing available, where users could test the beta for upcoming releases of iOS and send feedback to Apple about bugs and issues. The final version of iOS 8 was iOS 8.4.1.
See main article: iOS 9.
Apple announced iOS 9 on June 8, 2015, at its annual WWDC event, and it was released to the public on September 16, 2015, alongside the iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus and iPad Mini 4. With this release, Apple did not drop support for any iOS devices, but support for Apple TV (3rd generation) has been dropped following the release due to 32-bit deprecations. Therefore, iOS 9 was supported on the iPhone 4S onwards, iPod Touch (5th generation) onwards, the iPad 2 onwards, and the iPad Mini (1st generation) onwards. This release made the iPad 2 the first device to support six major releases of iOS, supporting iOS 4 through iOS 9. Despite Apple's promise of better performance on these devices, there were still widespread complaints that the issue had not been fixed. iOS 9.3.5 is the final release on the iPod Touch (5th generation), the Wi-Fi-only iPad 2, the Wi-Fi-only iPad (3rd generation), and the Wi-Fi-only iPad Mini (1st generation). iOS 9.3.6 is the final release on the iPhone 4S, the Wi-Fi + cellular iPad 2, the Wi-Fi + cellular iPad (3rd generation), and the Wi-Fi + cellular iPad Mini (1st generation). iOS 9 is the last version to run on iPhones and iPads with 30-pin connector.
See main article: iOS 10.
Apple announced iOS 10 on June 13, 2016, at its annual WWDC event, and it was released to the public on September 13, 2016, alongside the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. With this release, Apple dropped support for devices using an A5 or A5X processor: the iPhone 4S, the iPad 2, iPad (3rd generation), iPad Mini (1st generation), and iPod Touch (5th generation) due to hardware limitations and performance issues, ending software support for iPhones and iPads with 30-pin connector and 3.5-inch display. However, the iPhone 5S onwards, iPod Touch (6th generation), iPad Air onwards, and the iPad Mini 2 onwards are fully supported. The release of iOS 10.2.1 brought support for the iPad (5th generation), and iOS 10.3.2 brought support for the iPad Pro (10.5-inch) and the iPad Pro (12.9-inch, 2nd generation). iOS 10.3.3 is the final supported release for the iPhone 5C and the Wi-Fi—only iPad (4th generation), while iOS 10.3.4 is the final supported release for the iPhone 5 and the iPad (4th generation) with cellular modem. iOS 10 is the final iOS version to run on 32-bit processors, including non–Touch ID iPhones. It is also the final version of iOS to run 32-bit apps.
See main article: iOS 11.
Apple announced iOS 11 on June 5, 2017, at its annual WWDC event, and it was released to the public on September 19, 2017, alongside the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. With this release, Apple dropped support for the 32-bit iPhone 5, iPhone 5C, and iPad (4th generation) and also for 32-bit apps. However, all other devices from the iPhone 6S onwards, iPhone SE (1st generation), iPad Pro, and iPad (5th generation) onwards are fully supported. iOS 11.0.1 brought support for the iPhone X and iOS 11.3 brought support for the iPad (6th generation). The final version of iOS 11 to be released was iOS 11.4.1. iOS 11 is the first version of iOS to only run on 64-bit processors. It is also the first iOS version to run only 64-bit apps; 32-bit apps are not supported on iOS 11 or later.
See main article: iOS 12.
Apple announced iOS 12 on June 4, 2018, at its annual WWDC event, and it was released to the public on September 17, 2018, alongside the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR. With this release, Apple did not drop support for any iOS devices. Therefore, iOS 12 was supported on the iPhone 5S onwards, iPod Touch (6th generation), the iPad Air onwards and the iPad Mini 2 onwards. All other devices from the iPhone 6S onwards, the iPad Air (2019), the iPad (5th generation) onwards and all iPad Pro models are fully supported. iOS 12.1 brought support to the iPad Pro (12.9-inch, 3rd generation) and iPad Pro (11-inch, 1st generation) and iOS 12.2 brought support to the iPad Mini (5th generation) and iPad Air (3rd generation). iOS 12.5.7 is the last supported release for the iPhone 5S, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air (1st generation), iPad mini 2, iPad mini 3, and iPod touch (6th generation). It was the last version named "iOS" to run on iPads; it was succeeded by iOS 13 on iPhones and iPadOS 13 on iPads on September 19, 2019.
iOS 12 put a major focus on improving the performance of the operating system, especially on older iOS devices like the iPhone 6. Several areas that were focused on were the keyboard, made to appear up to 50% faster; app launch times, improved to be up to 40% faster; and the action to slide up to take a photo, made up to 70% faster.[84] However, several new features were also introduced with the update, such as Memoji, a feature that allows users to create "personalized emojis",[85] a new Screen Time feature to track device usage,[86] improvements to Siri, Apple's virtual assistant,[87] and Apple's book reading app, Apple Books (previously named iBooks), was given a significant redesign.[88]
See main article: iOS 13.
Apple announced iOS 13 on June 3, 2019, at its annual WWDC event, and it was released to the public on September 19, 2019, alongside the iPhone 11 series (11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro Max). The principal features include an option for dark mode and Memoji support. The NFC framework now supports reading several types of contactless smartcards and tags.[89] With iOS 13, Apple branched off the iPad version of iOS into its own entity named iPadOS. All iPhone and iPod touch models from the iPhone 6S and later and the iPod Touch (7th generation) are fully supported (A9 and A10 Fusion devices have almost full support, while those with A11 Bionic and later chips have full support). iOS 13 brought support for the iPhone 11 series and the second-generation iPhone SE.
See main article: iOS 14.
Apple announced iOS 14 on June 22, 2020, at its annual WWDC event, with a developer beta released on the same day and a public beta released on July 9, 2020.[90] iOS 14 was released on September 16, 2020. All devices that supported iOS 13 also support iOS 14. Some new features introduced in iOS 14 include redesigned widgets that can now be placed directly on the home screen; the App Library, which automatically categorizes apps into one page; Picture-in-Picture on iPhone and iPod Touch; and the CarKey technology to unlock and start a car with NFC. iOS 14 also allows users to have incoming calls shown in banners rather than taking up the whole screen (the latter view is still available as an optional function).[91]
The release of iOS 14.1 brought support for the iPhone 12 series.
See main article: iOS 15.
Apple announced iOS 15 on June 7, 2021, at its annual WWDC event, with a developer beta released on the same day and a public beta released a few weeks later, at the end of June 2021. All devices that supported iOS 13 and iOS 14 also support iOS 15. iOS 15 has limited support on the iPhone 6S, iPhone 7, iPhone 8, iPhone X, iPhone SE (1st generation), and iPod Touch (7th generation).[92] iOS 15.4 added support for the iPhone SE 3rd generation. iOS 15 is the final version of iOS to work on the iPod Touch line, as the final model, the 7th generation, was discontinued without a successor. iOS 15 was succeeded by iOS 16 on September 13, 2022.
See main article: iOS 16.
Apple announced iOS 16 on June 6, 2022, at its annual WWDC event, with a developer beta released the same day. iPhone 6S, IPhone SE (1st generation), iPhone 7 and iPod touch (7th generation) were dropped.[93] iOS 16 is the first release to not support any iPod Touch models, as the line was discontinued by Apple in May 2022,[94] leaving the iPhone as the only supported product line to run iOS. iOS 16 served as the version that shipped on the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro.
iOS 16 introduced an overhaul of the lock screen which added support for widgets and additional customization options, including customizing how the date and time appears through new font and color options, additional wallpaper customization options, and support for multiple lock screens. Other features included editing and deleting messages sent via iMessage, support for Live Activities via a new API called ActivityKit (added in iOS 16.1), among other features.[95] iOS 16 also added support for Rapid Security Response updates which focus on fixes for critical security vulnerabilities; it was first used with the release of iOS 16.4.1.
See main article: iOS 17.
Apple announced iOS 17 on June 5, 2023, at its annual WWDC event, with it being released later that year on September 18. With this release, Apple dropped support for the iPhone 8 and iPhone X. iOS 17 added support for iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro.
See main article: iOS 18 and Apple Intelligence.
iOS 18 was announced by Apple during the keynote for its annual WWDC event on June 10, 2024[96] [97] with the initial developer beta of the operating system being released after the keynote. No support was dropped in iOS 18 for any iPhones that were compatible with iOS 17. The operating system launched on September 16, 2024, with support for the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro, however they were released four days later on September 20, 2024.
iOS 18 introduces support for Apple Intelligence, the hybrid device and cloud-based artificial intelligence system developed by Apple for its iOS, macOS, and iPadOS platforms.